Rey was the first one out of the door, and thankfully, no demons were waiting to greet him, but they were coming. The woods were teeming with activity. Shadowy shapes ran between the ominous trees, all going for the sweet treat of Gloria's soul.

  By now, Gloria must've risen somewhere close by and would be coming for her soul. It was impossible to tell where she was and which direction she would be coming from. That didn't matter. The only thing that did was that Rey's people got stronger and killed as many demons as they could.

  Slowly, one by one, everyone stepped out of the castle door and filed neatly behind Rey. They clutched their weapons tightly in trembling hands. He was sure most of them were clenching their buttholes just as tightly so they didn't color their pants a brownish color.

  "Ladies and gents, we have one goal and one goal alone," Rey began. "To kill as many demons as possible…and not die. So, two goals. Just do that, and you'll progress quite smoothly."

  "Easy for you to say," Tia scoffed.

  She was clearly salty about Rey being stronger than her, but she would come around or try to kill Rey. He would keep a close eye on her and make sure to learn as much as he could about her Talent and skills.

  "Why do they mostly look like animals versus the monstrosities on Earth?" Maria pondered.

  "Because Zalathar wants to ease us into the madness," Rey said almost immediately, garnering many looks. So, he quickly shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. Who knows what goes on in that short peni—" He immediately coughed. "Enough talking. Same strategy as before, melee fighters to the front and range to the back, close to the door," Rey ordered. "Let's go get our battle high, and by all the Sovereigns in Heaven and Hell, it is something to die for. It goes without saying that the doctor stays behind and becomes the doorman. If you're injured, break away from the fighting and head inside, get healed up, and rejoin the fight."

  He laughed as he tightened the grip on his scythe and charged. The first demonic monster was very reminiscent of the bunny that had dug its horn into him back on Earth. It had its horn facing forward, but Rey's horn was longer. With a downward swing, he plunged his blade into the bunny's brain.

  [+1 Dexterity]

  [You killed a Tharniel (Exiled) – E+2]

  He yanked out his blade and moved for the next target. It was a Gorran, and he loved killing these monkeys. Thanks to the dungeon, their numbers must've dwindled some, but they weren't all dead. It hollered and leaped for Rey, who rolled to the side and pulled out the second weapon on him—the iron dagger.

  He plunged the dagger into the demon's shoulder, making it cry out. Then he jumped back as the demon flinched and thrust his scythe into the demon monkey's ear, giving it a much-needed cleaning. The blade came out the other side. The demon was dead within seconds. He yanked his spear out and moved for the next one.

  [+1 Strength]

  [You killed a Gorran (exiled) – E+2]

  There was no doubt in his mind that he would find a monster that was Rank 3, but he had no choice but to stay with the rest and guide them through the rankings. He took a quick look around and saw that they were holding their own.

  Jerry and Sergei were killing machines and fought back-to-back. Sergei, if Rey remembered correctly, had strength-enhancing skills that made him the real-life Hulk. Unfortunately, the quiet Russian didn't rip out of his shirt or turn green, which was a monumental disappointment, but watching him tear demons with his bare hands more than made up for it. His partner, the metal lumberjack, had fully turned metal, and demons were breaking their teeth on his metal skin while he laughed and cut them down to size with his axe. He was like a mix between Colossus from X-Men and Kratos. If both of them had an IQ level so abysmal that even a Goldfish would call them slow. That was Jerry, but by god, could the man fight.

  Maria was hanging back a bit, but she was doing her bit with a lot of help from the ranged fighters. Filomena was shooting bolt after bolt to keep any additional demons away from her. It was good, but soon, even Filomena would run out of mana and would have to pick up her sword and join the melee.

  Seeing her like that, sword in one hand and shooting lightning bolts from the other, reminded him of himself. He was nostalgic for his old build, for it was exactly like this. He wielded lightning and storms in one hand with a sword in the other. He was a master swordsman, and he wasn't just stroking his massively erect ego.

  He swayed out of the way of a slash from a demon, punched it in the throat, and drove it into the ground. He ended the demon quickly by slashing its skull open and spilling its brain on the ground. As it were, demons didn't last long when sharp objects entered their skull.

  [+1 Perception]

  [+1 Strength]

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+1]

  From the corner of his eye, he saw a silvery light streak towards him. He swayed back as the arrow flew past him and embedded in the demon's chest. The demon flailed about on the ground and died shortly after. Rey could have put it out of its misery, but then why take Kassandra's kill? She needed the experience from each kill. He did not.

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  It was a good thing that Kassandra was staying back and away from the fighting. She was right in the middle of the elemental casters. But still, they would have to join the fight with the number of demons pouring out of the woods. Some ignored the humans and instead circled the soul they did not have to work for—Gloria's. She hovered there attached to her body, unable to run, unable to move, or protect herself from the ravenous demons.

  A soul was the greatest delicacy for a demon. Nothing satiated them quite like a soul. Rey would know. After all, he devoured many souls when he turned into a demon. Thinking back on it, he wasn't quite thrilled about the aspect of it now, but at that time, he didn't care. His human moral code had flown out the window, and everything was an all-you-can-eat buffet.

  Now, everything was confusing again. Just mere days ago, he was a demon, and now, he had this inner voice telling him not to do things that he would have relished, like snapping all the bones of these humans and slurping their souls. But this wasn't the place to think about such things.

  He threw himself into the fray again. Demons of all kinds, shapes, and sizes came rushing for them, and he let loose. He hacked and slashed his way through a multitude of them. His body fell into a familiar rhythm. Someone had explained to him that his battle instincts had taken over. He flowed through movements that were similar and yet slightly different than his sword attacks. He pulled out every stance and move that his Scythe Mastery skill provided, and it was fantastic. The best part was that since they were Rank 1 or 2 demons, they fell with hardly a poke. The worst part was that they were Rank 1 or 2 demons, which meant they hardly provided any experience at all.

  Fuck you, Zarius.

  But stat points popped up aplenty. It was like a rain of stat points, and the best part was he felt himself getting stronger with each Strength point, more nimble and agile with each Dexterity point. His Stamina increased with each Endurance point.

  He held off on using his Mana skills because this was going to be a long fight. Since he could only fire off maybe three to four Mana attacks, he kept them in reserve. As the fight dragged on, he made sure to keep an eye on his comrades, and they held the line. Everyone sustained injuries, and everyone ducked inside once or twice to get healed up. Only two people never went to the Organ Repair Specialist—Rey and Tia.

  Rey had been employing a strategy of fighting for a little while, then jumping back out to take a breather and jumping back in, but the trust fund baby had been fighting nonstop. He had taken more than a few looks at her, and what he saw terrified him.

  It wasn't that she was a fourth dan black belt in Taekwondo. She was second dan at best. But it was her Talent that scared him the most. Whenever she got slashed or cut, the next moment, the cut would seal shut, and the same cut would appear on her foe's body at relatively the same place. If a demon slashed her arm, her wound would seal shut, and the demon's arm would rip open with the same wound. In essence, she was transferring her wounds to her enemies.

  She's no longer Barbie's annoying twin. She's leveled up to Barbie's evil mother. Not if, but when this woman turns against me, I might be done for.

  She could rip open her throat and transfer that damage to him. He wasn't sure if her skill would work like that. It very well could in its advanced stages. Rey made a mental note to be very, very nice to the little sadistic psychopath.

  Something whizzed past his ear, and his attention returned to the battlefield, which was so thick with demon corpses that it was getting hard to push forward. The demons were climbing over their dead, and the fight was drawing nearer to the castle, which was not good.

  "Stop daydreaming and keep fighting!" Kassandra yelled.

  He raised a thumb, which dripped black demon blood. "You got it, boss." His eyes widened. "Kassi, watch out!"

  He thrust his free hand out and used Gravitational Attraction on Kassandra, but he was just a second too late. A demon had crept around the clearing and come on her back through the woods. It slashed and would have taken her head off if Rey hadn't been looking. But now, its long claws only raked the back of her neck. Rey figured he had saved her from the bulk of the damage, but he was wrong.

  When she got to him, she immediately crumpled in his arms. Blood leaked out of her in droves, making his hand and arm all slick with it.

  "Kassi?" Rey shook her. "Kassi, say something."

  No, fuck no. I'm not losing you this early.

  He quickly threw her over her shoulder and ran for the castle door. The demon that had attacked Kassandra came for them. Rey used Gravitational Repulsion and sent him flying back towards the treeline. It crashed against a tree so hard that the tree was uprooted, and the demon was ripped in half.

  Rey's anger was not abated. He pounded on the door, and Dr. Bahar opened the door immediately. The woman looked haggard. There were dark circles under her eyes, and sweat perspired on her forehead. She looked like she had run a marathon at full speed in just one hour, but as soon as she saw Kassandra, she was fully alert.

  "Quick, put her down on the table," she said.

  The doctor had brought a wooden table from somewhere and was using it as an operating table. Rey gently laid Kassandra down and turned her over. Right then, there came a frantic knock on the door. Rey checked through the small slit in the door, and it was Ajay.

  He unlocked the door, and it wasn't just Ajay. He jumped in along with everyone else. Rey slammed the door shut and dropped the bolt.

  "What the hell happened?" Rey demanded. "Did the demons just leave? It doesn't sound like they've left."

  "There are too many of them," Jerry huffed, with his hands on his knees.

  "That's the point," Rey retorted.

  "Ajay, I need your help," the doctor interrupted. "I need you to do what you did for Gloria."

  That stumped Rey. All else fell out of the window, and Kassandra took all his attention once again. The doctor had both hands on the back of Kassandra's neck, and they were red with her blood. Blood seeped out of the corner of her hands and through her fingers.

  Ajay didn't wait for a second. A small flame ignited on his hands, and he pressed them to the back of Kassandra's neck. The poor girl didn't even twitch. The smell of burnt meat and smoke filled the hall.

  Rey's eyes watered, and he couldn't help but think back to Gloria. They had done this for Gloria, not hours before, and she didn't last. Would this be the fate for Kassandra, too?

  But she's not supposed to die until the very end of the year. She can't die now. Rey reassured himself, but he knew that was a lie. The future could be changed. Had been changed. He had done it so many times.

  He needed something else to focus on. He needed something to hit, or he would lose his mind with worry. He turned to the door.

  "Don't tell me you're going out there?" Ajay asked, worried.

  "There's a shit ton of demons out there," Rey said without turning, or they would see his tears. "Someone has to kill them."

  "I'll come with you," Ajay said.

  There was a pause, then Filomena added. "As will I."

  "And me," Sergei said.

  No one else raised their voices. Rey undid the bolt and stepped out into the chaos once more.